


Cadmus

by idigam



Series: Batman Beyond [5]
Category: Batman Beyond, Batman: The Animated Series, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, From me if no one else, IT BEGINS, Justice League: New Guard, Project Cadmus, there will be evil laughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-07 02:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11049597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idigam/pseuds/idigam
Summary: Because there's a little juxtaposition that I can't resist and how has no one else so far decided to force interaction between flippant Batman and surly Superman- er Boy?





	1. Chapter 1

            Terry is walking home after a rough week; he’s looking forward to a nice hot shower and hopefully either A, a slow Batman night, or B, a busy Batman night where he gets to punch many criminals. He’s starting to suspect it’ll be a bit of column B but with more running and trying not to die. What could possibly give Terry McGinnis, second Batman, the Tomorrow Knight, and apprentice to Bruce Wayne that idea? It’s probably the fact that JLU junior member Mareena is loitering outside his mom’s apartment in civilian clothes.

 

Terry should be mad, pretend he doesn’t see her, hope this is a coincidence, but Terry’s not stupid. So instead Terry walks up to Mareena and says, “walk with me, my family’s not aware of the night job and I prefer it that way.” Mareena frowns slightly, “how do you know I’m not here on my own, to see Terry McGinnis; or I’m simply waiting out of coincidence?” Terry shoots her a look, but there’s only affectionate ribbing in it. “Are you?” she sighs, “no, I’m here for Batman, in fairness I’m not here on League business or anything." Terry quirks a questioning eyebrow, “long story, but I was wondering if you wanted to do a solo mission?” Terry’s interest officially piqued, “why bring this to me? Why not the League?” The unspoken question _why not Rex?_ Hangs in the air. “Because I’m still a junior member and while I may love Rex Stewart dearly, if I have to deal with him hovering over me for one more mission I’m going to drop him in the bottom of a river. Besides, this is little more than a recon thing, and it’s in your backyard. You and I are in pretty much the same boat League-wise so I figured I’d see if you were in.” Terry chuckles mostly to himself and says, “And having back-up from someone who’s got mostly solo experience?” Mareena smiles “couldn’t hurt. So you up for a bit of investigating?” She holds up a data drive for Terry to see. Sure but I’ve got a friend who should look at this too.

 

 

***

            Terry and Mareena arrive outside a large clock tower, donated by Wayne Enterprises after the first was destroyed by Firefly. “Secondary batcave up-top, a friend of mine works out of here. If you’re going to know me, and her, she’s gonna need to know you, get what I’m saying?” Mareena looks up at the tower, “no masks, I am Mareena, I am also Aquagirl, she knows this, and she helps us; that about sum it up?” Terry nods, “alright time to visit the Oracle of Gotham," Mareena smiles politely yet puzzled, Terry opens a patch of brick in the clock tower to reveal a hand scanner. Placing his hand on the scanner then showing his eye to a retinal scanner opens an elevator to the top of the tower. “After you” he says gesturing to the open car.

 

Arriving at the top is a girl with pink hair and dark skin. “Batman, good, we’ve got a couple minor reports of Jokerz and Ts in the historic district, they’ve been screwing around the Majestic renovation site, I was…” She stops noticing Mareena for the first time, and that Terry was in civies. “You refuse to talk to Dana about this gig but bring a strange new girl here just-” Terry decides to cut the Max-rant off before the hour is wasted, "Oracle, meet Aquagirl, Mareena, meet Maxine Gibson. Also Max, she’s dating Warhawk.” Max’s skin does hide her embarrassment well, not well enough. “See this is why the old man gets on _us_ about jumping to conclusions.” The way he says “us” says “you” louder than anything. Max flips him off, “alright McGinnis what do you want? You don’t visit the Tower unless you want something, now spill or I talk to the boss.” Terry grins, “I’m not scared of him, but we would like this quiet, if nothing else we don’t want him talking to the League until we’re ready.” Max arches an eyebrow at this, “okay, color me curious, what’s going on that you want to keep secret from the League?” Mareena holds up her thumb-drive, “we think the real Cadmus might be active again, just outside Gotham no less.” Max lets out a low whistle, “that would be worth a peek.” Terry saunters over the the computer terminal, “You went snooping again didn’t you?” Max pouts; “no he’s using my security against me there. I just binged on what was there the first time.”

 

An hour later and they have the surveillance report in front of them. “Between being the junior member and Superman’s colossal guilt complex about my dad I get stuck on monitor duty nine times out of ten. I mean I like the quiet and it is important but.” Terry and Max share a look and Max responds with “but you want to be out there, boots on the ground knowing you’re helping people.” Mareena blushes a little bit, “that obvious?” Terry shrugs, “not a bad goal, give Supes time, but that said I as Batman officially invite you to be up to no good and stick your nose where it doesn’t belong with regards to Cadmus.” Terry says this like a solemn vow hand over his heart and everything Mareena laughs Max rolls her eyes, “Tone it down a bit Alan Rickman.” Mareena continues, “last night there was a fire report, and the first responders said it looked like arson, but it’s been swept up pretty much right away. Locals got displaced by feds.” Terry looks at the surveillance footage. “And just why is the commissioner all the way out there herself?” Terry points out Barbara’s figure in the pictures, “better move forward on the assumption Bruce knows about this if Barb was there. He might not since they aren’t exactly besties but.” Max smirks, “the old man has taught us to be paranoid has he not?” Terry responds with a smile of his own, “indeed he has.”

 

Mareena watches them work with a rapt fascination, “you two do this kind of stuff a lot? By yourselves?” Max looks up, “usually the old man’s complaining in our ear the whole time but yeah pretty much.” Terry turns to them from the floor plan of the Cadmus facility face suddenly serious, “Max, since B’s probably already aware of this one on some level I want you to contact him if we fail to check in. Mareena, you and I will be checking in every hour with Max.” They look at him, his flippant tone is gone; now there’s only the cool professional Bruce trained, “Cadmus is dangerous and they’ve dealt blows to the League before, we go in fast and quiet and we come out. No heroics, no drama, this is pure recon.”

 

 

***

            Mareena and Terry arrive outside of the Cadmus offices the squat five story building looks like the epitome of office blandness. Despite its uninteresting appearance Terry can’t help but feel an aura of menace, like he’s being hunted from the shadows, not the other way around. “Alright, our best bet is the burned offices, we can see if there are any burn patterns or accelerant traces. Then we’ll move into the rest of the facility.” The burned offices are in a state of havoc, that said the burn patterns and scorch marks are too regular. Was this arson for the insurance or was it corporate sabotage? Terry notices a silhouette in the doorway, a distinctly inhuman silhouette that quickly moves down the hall once it notices his gaze. Or was it something else. Terry moves after the figure silently motioning for Mareena to follow. The figure’s shadow moves down the halls, stopping every so often. _It wants to be followed, is this a trap or a call for help?_ Terry and Mareena end up at a private elevator, overriding the security is simple, they call for the car. The elevator is utilitarian and bland as the rest of the facility. There’s directory, Terry hooks the suit in, “Max, remember those logic worms that Riddler left in the DMV computers?” Mareena gives Terry a questioning look. There’s a small amount of static over the line before Max says, “yeah, you need me to upload one to the suit?” Terry types a couple commands into the wrist input system. “Yeah, I want to know how many floors this elevator goes to.”

 

Mareena looks over his shoulder, “You suspect there are more subbasements than are shown in the plans?” Terry smiles over his shoulder at her, “got it in one.”

“Alright, Logic Worm uploaded, should be a few seconds.” After a short load the suit displays thirty five floors. “This place is huge, most of it is underground. At least twenty eight floors of it.” Max whistles, “want me to message B-man and the League?”

“Not yet, I want to see what they’re hiding. In putting command to subbasement twenty eight. “Let’s start at the bottom and work our way back up.” The elevator goes down a great deal before opening onto an enormous room all sterile white floors and walls but also lined with row upon row of pods with strange life-forms incubating, amniotic fluid being cycled through tubes to the pods casting a dull red glow across the area. Outside the pods is purely technological but the insides are organic with umbilical cords feeding most of the creatures growing within. “My god, what are they doing here?” Terry steps forward almost too blown away to notice the huge muscle bound monstrosities lumbering towards them. Small squat things sitting on their broad backs. One of them looks towards Terry and Mareena as they duck out of the way. Its horns glow, then it turns its head back to the corridor they’re marching down.

 

“Let’s see where they’re going.” Mareena says before slinking after them. Terry follows and prepares to activate his optic-camouflage.

 

 

***

            In another part of the facility Dr. Desmond is hard at work in his own lab when the G-Gnome on his shoulder's horns glow and an image of the intruders is sent to him. “Capture them,” he says returning to the glowing blue concoction in front of him. The G-Gnome nods and its horns glow again.

 

 

***

            Terry and Mareena approach the entrance to a small hallway before alarms sound around them. They turn in time to see their escape route cut off by a group of tall lanky creatures with claws and whip-like tails. “Slag,” is all Terry can say before they lunge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Superboy ever wake up on the right side of the bed? The answer is no, no he does not.

_Well shit, maybe I shouldn’t have been so eager to jump into the secret government hell pit._ Mareena thinks these words while the mutant monsters lunge for them. She doesn’t remember swearing so casually, even in her own thoughts. Rex swears constantly when he’s not in public, so it’s probably his fault. Not that she’s bitter, being with Rex is liberating, no stifling Atlantean etiquette to deal with. Terry throws several Batarangs, most are batted out of the air by the monsters in front of them, and one manages to hit some wires on a nearby pod. Sparks fly and a small sprinkler system gushes to life. Sprinklers, bingo, Mareena’s eyes glow a pale blue as she draws on her heritage of Atlantean magic, she calls the water in the pipes above to her and it surges out. The water is stale at first but soon enough is replaced by fresher water. She pulls it to her and hears and audible “woah” from the Batman. Mareena lets a deadly smile loose, the water compresses to the size of a basketball. The monsters rush forward thinking it safe, she releases her control in a directional stream. Water slams into the nearest creature with the force of a fire hose knocking it back she keeps it up until the floors are soaked and Batman throws an electrified batarang. He grabs her arm and they’re running, away from the elevator she notices, then she notices why when more of the lithe monsters appear followed by one of the big ones.

 

 

***

            Terry is pulling Mareena along, looking for the path to the most secure part of the facility, cameras, and guards; most of the staff seemed to have moved to cut them off. Once he had a place to barricade himself he’d worry about the rest. He found a place between the first set of super heavy duty doors and the next set. He sets to work, “can you keep them busy while I get this closed?” He asks, she nods and uses her power to pull water from the outer pipes forming bars out of it. “Hurry, shifting water density is hard; I can only keep the pressure up for so long.” One of the big troll looking brutes rounded the corner and charged the wall, it held, Mareena grunted in pain and began to sweat with effort. The smaller lithe monsters came with the troll. “They have a surprise coming I they do break my focus. I’d rather be behind that door when they do though.” As soon as the words leave her mouth the door slides shut, she sighs relieved and once the locks click in place there’s a resounding thud of something hitting the door at extreme force. “Did you just pull a Van Pelt on the troll out there?” Mareena looks confused; “I was keeping a lot of water in a small space. Without my magic applying pressure it had to go somewhere.” Terry’s grin is wide and slightly manic, “then yes, yes you did.”

 

He gets up and moves to the far door, I have the Logic Worms still ready to go in the suit. “It’ll take me a bit to get through, but not long enough for them to get through that first door.” Mareena walks up to him, “then what?” Terry sets to work on the door’s operating panel, “then we wait, not glamorous sure, but I haven’t been able to raise Max so the old man will probably have the League here soon enough. We just need to hold out until then.” Mareena sags next to him, “goodie, there goes my time in the League.” Terry sends a questioning look at her, “why, you held you own during the whole incident I was involved in?” Mareena’s smile is bitter, “yep, and that’s with just a little over a year of being a part of the JLU. Wanna know how long Starro had Supes under control? Three, three years, and immediately after we free him I’m stuck on monitor and desk duty.” Terry might not be Bruce in the detective department, but two and two still make four last he checked (though Max could probably throw some fancy math words around to prove that sometimes that wasn’t the case.)

 

 “So that ‘guilt complex’ you mentioned?” She lets out a single bitter laugh “world’s greatest detective got it in one! Yep, the great Superman was present when my father bought the big one back in 09’ and don’t get the weird look, Atlanteans mature slower than surface dwellers. Not that it mattered, mom said no no matter how much I begged, however, once I got to the rebellious teen years, and Superman shows up and says the League needs me if I’m willing I’m all for it. Except...”

 

“Superman wasn’t Superman, so now you get to sit around until they decide you screwed up badly enough to send home or bench permanently.” Terry finishes, then he surprises her, “except you’re gonna tell them to go screw if they try that. Know why? Because you are you and you sure as hell are too good a hero to get benched because of an old wound. That’s why I don’t let B-man fire me no matter how hard he tries.” That answer was raw, candid, shocking, and a stark mirror of her own feelings. “Bruce’s fired you?” Terry shoots his own dangerous grin and Mareena can see why criminals are scared of him now, “yep, something happened, I’m not sure what, haven’t managed to worm that far past his shell yet, but someone got hurt. It ended the whole life, not just for him Barbara too. You know what though? I don’t care, because like you, I’m better than that, I’m not going to be haunted by the ghost of someone I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to give up my mantle because someone else is haunted.” He looks towards the door opening a crack just big enough to duck through. “That said, dying in Cadmus isn’t something I plan on either. So we wait for the League and then we wave all the data we steal in their faces and brag about the serious viruses we’re leaving in their computers.”

 

 

***

            About five minutes later the second large door is closed behind them and locked. Batman and Aquagirl are left in near total darkness for about five seconds when some low ambient light begins to boot up. “Project Krypton?” Terry reads off one of the nearby monitors, ”think it has something to do with Superman?” Mareena asks. “Probably, back in the day Cadmus and its directors weren’t exactly subtle about how they felt about the man of steel.” Mareena snorts in contempt, “one of those directors being Lex Luthor makes that pretty clear. Cadmus should be a government institute though, that prejudice should have died with Luthor.” Terry looks back at her, “assuming Luthor is dead.” Mareena crosses her arms “it’s been twenty years since he disappeared, do you really think he’s alive?” Terry begins a sweep of the overall room hunting for any other exits. “I think Luthor’s to dangerous to assume anything.”

 

The room is a single large circular chamber, several data feeds and computer terminals, the walls are clean sterile linoleum and metal protecting wires leading to a single metal cylinder in the middle of the room. Terry approaches it “wonder what this is, some kind of super power-cell? Or cold fusion generator? Not very big though.”

“I don’t think so,” Mareena’s at one of the terminals, “these are life sign readings, I think there’s another one of those genetic monsters in there.” Terry looks taken aback, “something important enough to have its own room, behind two security doors, to take out Superman? We can’t let this thing reach maturity, open the security locks!”

 

 

***

            Meanwhile on the other side of the door two G-Dwarves with power cutters are hard at work on the door. Desmond approaches Dubbilex fury written across his features. “They haven’t been caught yet?” Dubbilex turns to his immediate superior, “they’ve barricaded themselves in the Project Krypton chamber, the doors have been hacked, and this is the most expedient way in.” Expecting Desmond to be furious Dubbilex is surprised when the man smiles, “contact the G-Gnomes in there and wake him up. His body is stabilized; it’s time to see what he can do.” Dubbilex responds with fear, “but the programming isn’t finished what if he’s unstable.” Desmond turns on him “then we clean up the mess and start again, do it.” Dubbilex nods and his horns glow.

 

 

***

            Back with our heroes, the locking mechanisms slide into place, the metal casing lowers and reveals the Cadmus project sleeping within. Three chambers housing more of the G-Gnomes responsible for the project’s education feed information in his developing mind. And it is a him, not an “it” as Terry had assumed. The person in the pod is young, about Terry’s age, but with Superman’s features. Not one hundred percent, but enough to see the man of steel as his parent. “Slag, he’s not just a weapon, he’s a clone.” Mareena makes her way to his side, “does this change things?” Terry touches the glass, “it shouldn’t, he’s dangerous, probably should do it while we have the chance, but…” Mareena moves up to him, “he’s a person, and that’s not what the League does. Makes you wonder about the less human ones outside.” Terry grits his teeth, “Cadmus has a lot to answer for, get him out of there.” Mareena smiles, “that was happening no matter your answer,” she says as the tank begins draining and with a hiss of vapor the enclosed environment unseals it’s self, “I just happen to still respect you.”

 

The Superboy sags to the ground waking enough to catch himself, the three little creatures horns stop glowing once he leave the tank. Terry moves up to him, “easy there, we're here to help.” The clone’s eyes shoot open and he punches Terry into the far wall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Climactic showdown, or in which I am a wholly unoriginal hack. Take your pick.

            Terry hits the wall with a sickening thud, Aquagirl turns to the Superboy, “stop calm down please, we aren’t here to hurt-” she’s cut off when he grabs her throat and squeezes. His eyes are cold, an almost ethereal blue, but unthinking, and unfeeling. The small monsters in the pod, they’re keeping him on the facility director's leash. Terry rockets into the clone; hammering him with punches, the clone tosses Aquagirl into him. The two are stunned long enough that he grabs both of them and cuts off their air until they pass out. Using his super hearing to listen to their heart rates slow he drops them and calmly moves over to the door.

 

Dr. Desmond and Dubbilex are waiting patiently on the other side having broken through the first door. “Ah Project Krypton, how are you feeling, I’m afraid we had to wake you up slightly earlier than intended.” Superboy’s eyes become more alert the G-Gnome’s influence fading; Desmond requires his conscious thoughts to accurately assess his mental development. The super clone shrugs, “Tactics under pressure need more field testing, my muscles are stiff from inactivity, otherwise I am functional, do you require anything else Dr. Desmond?” Desmond is about to tell him “no” when a thought occurs to him. “Yes, take those two to the genetics retrieval station; I’ll assign doctor Tseng to perform a more thorough examination while they are undergoing the cloning procedure.” Superboy nods and picks up the unconscious heroes.

 

 

***

            Once the heroes had been secured in the pods that would keep them still while their material was harvested Desmond turns to Dubbilex, “scan their minds, I want their projects to have all the required knowledge to be perfect sleeper agents.” Dubbilex nods, “yes sir,” his horns glow as the hero’s come too. Desmond leaves when an Asian man enters the room “Dr. Tseng, I want a full physical of Project Krypton preformed and I want the results on my desk in an hour I have a call to make.”

 

 _I am sorry for this_ , Dubbilex telepathically speaks to them, _I had hoped this would end differently, once Cadmus has secured your material you’ll be “deleted.”_ Dubbilex begins the procedure, “you called us here, why then?” _Can you help us?_  Batman asks half out loud, half in his mind. Dubbilex looks back at Superboy who simply stares back with eyes too hard for someone so young and with no life experience. _Not alone._

 

 

***

            Desmond is in his office and lab on the secure line to Cadmus Command, “yes, I thought of that, that’s why I’m beginning the cloning process. Yes, I am certain. If the Justice League knew about this then they would be here in force. I’ll be able to misdirect this until the agents can be placed. Yes ma’m I understand the price of failing to do so. Yes, thank you for this chance ma’m.” He hangs up and lets out a breath, the G-Gnome on his shoulder’s horns glow _let me know when the process is complete. The Director wants results._

 

 

***

            Superboy doesn’t react externally when Dubbilex’s mind touches his, linking him to the other two heroes. _I risk_ _everything doing this, for in doing nothing I lose even more_ , Superboy has no context for such an event, he’s simply too stunned but his training says he shouldn’t react to do so would get him killed. _Superboy, you need to help us, please,_ Aquagirl’s voice in his head begs.  _why? It’s against my training, what I am for_. He responds.

 _And what is that?_ It’s Batman’s voice this time. _I am to replace Superman, who has proven fallible and dangerous. To be the pillar he can no longer be, and if necessary to destroy him._

_But you’re about to kill, to kill people who came to help you._

Superboy questions this, _help me? By clouding my mission, and introducing doubt?_

 _Why does your heart doubt if your cause is just?_ Aquagirl again, _have they shown you anything beyond this lab? The sea? The sun?_  Batman's thoughts are next _, well the moon it being about midnight._

Apparently glares can be translated via thought because Superboy can tell that’s the look being shot towards Batman. Superboy huffs a small laugh, the doctor looks at him questioningly, and he returns to neutral expression, “sorry, tickled.” The doctor smiles and continues. _The first Batman knows where we are, Superman is coming, and shouldn’t you get to meet your father?_  Batman’s question reverberates through him in a way that confuses him.

 

 _Why should it matter if I have a father?_ This is a question aimed at himself more than the captives but they answer anyway. _Because you’ve been given everything in your training, except what makes Superman a hero, what makes him human, his family and friends. What would he do?_

 

In that moment Superboy decides, Dubbilex uses his power to levitate an injector and Superboy holds Dr. Tseng in place “what are you-?” is all the doctor can get out before the sedative kicks in. Superboy breaks the pods holding in his would-be-rescuers. Alarms begin sounding, “great looks like sneaking out is not an option.” Batman grouses. Dubbilex points out, “the bulk of this facility’s security is made up of genomorphs, I can have them stand down. Desmond calling in reinforcements would be the only potential problem.”

 

 

***

            Once the alarms sound Desmond pockets the glowing substance he had been concocting, _no no no, I was so close to perfecting it. Damn, if only I had more time but the director will have my head if I screw this up. Some sacrifices are better than others._ He makes his way to the elevator to the facility entrance.

 

 

***

            The odd team of four makes their way to the elevators, “the system will have been shut down during the lock down.”

 “Doesn’t matter,” Superboy snarls, punching his way through the doors. “Hey chill, you wanna get out or you wanna fill us full of shrapnel?” Batman points out.

“You want escape?!” Superboy shouts grabbing Aquagirl and leaping upwards. Batman sighs and hooks one arm under Dubbilex’s and activates his rocket boots. “I thought I was supposed to be the angry moody one?”

 

Superboy is about halfway up the shaft when gravity kicks in and he slows and begins to fall. “I’m falling,” in that one statement is confusion, and hurt, like the very laws of nature have betrayed him. Batman anchors a line to catch them on one of the other levels. Superboy looks up at him and despite his looks; the sheer shock on his face shows how young he really is. Sixteen short weeks of life, “Superman can fly. Why can’t I fly?” Batman opens the doors, “you can jump further than I can without the suit and given what I’m working with I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Superboy nods distantly as they make their way towards the top of the facility. The last door to freedom is blocked only by the slim figure of Doctor Desmond.

 

“This could have been painless, weapon, but you’ve forced my hand. And Dubbilex, I’m disappointed, I should have seen this coming though. Blockbuster will allow me to restore order to this place.” He places and injector to his throat and the phosphorescent liquid to enter his veins. The transformation is nearly instant with Desmond’s new skin tearing through his old. The monster looks similar to the genomorphs but with the ragged remains of Desmond’s face hanging from its own more monstrous visage giving it the look of a nightmare. It punches Superboy straight into the room above. “Slag, one more thing,” Batman puts one hand to his cowl “Oracle you there? tell me the League's on their way.” The comm. crackles to life, “Batman are you okay? No you’re not if you’re calling for the League, and yes, ETA ten minutes.” Batman curses in at least two languages and launches upwards.

 

Superboy launches at Blockbuster only to be slammed to the ground Batman gets a couple hits in from behind before he’s batted into a wall. Superboy launches again Blockbuster snarls and slams him into and demolishes one of the support columns, the rubble falling from the ceiling wakes Terry in time for him to see Superboy get thrown into a drinking fountain barely missing Aquagirl. “Aquagirl, can you manage one more pressure cutter?” Aquagirl looks at him then the columns he’s marked on his wrist computer. “I think so, I’m going to have a migraine tomorrow but it’s better than a funeral.” She begins collecting water from the fountain. Batman throws some exploding Batarangs and tells Superboy to smash the far two pillars while having Doubbilex use telekinesis and telepathy to annoy Blockbuster into position. “Now!” the genomorph yells once Blockbuster is where he should be. The exploding Batarangs do their job and the whole place collapses.

 

 

***

            Superboy and Batman push the rubble out of their way, Superboy’s solar suit is in tatters, Batman’s suit’s circuitry exposed. Blockbuster lies under several larger pieces, unconscious. Batman looks up, “see moon, I can do a basic promise.” In front of the moon flies a figure in black and white, his graying temples suggesting an age only half of what it is. “And Superman; Oracle, call my girlfriend I’m on a roll with keeping promises today.” With superman the rest of the available League descends to survey the wreckage Cyborg, Changeling, Raven, Static, Warhawk, and Green Lantern. Superman’s face is one of wary curiosity, until Superboy steps forward and proudly displays the “S” on his solar suit. Superman’s gaze hardens and his face becomes unreadable, Superboy scowls in return. Bruce sounds over the comm. “is that what I think it is?” Superboy turns his scowl to Batman who simply replies, “sensitive and tactful as ever boss.” Superboy snarls “I’m a clone, Superman’s clone.”

 

As they clear away the wreckage and Kai-Ro hauls Blockbuster into the air the group looks around. “That was stupid kid, you and Oracle should have contacted me first and foremost. No matter how this turned out, it was an unnecessary risk.” Superman noticing the scrutiny he’s getting from the young clone walks up to them. “We’ll figure something out for you,” then realizing what that could imply stammers out a hasty “I mean the league we’ll… I should help them get that Blockbuster monster squared away.” Watching the Kryptonian beat a hasty retreat and carrying with him most of Terry’s blind faith in the man. “I thought you were bad,” he says into his cowl, from the other end Bruce merely sighs “I would have thought age and responsibility would have made him better at this.”

 

Warhawk stalks up to them, “What were you two thinking?! You could have gotten killed.” He seems mostly directing this at Mareena but he’s also snarling at Terry “you could have gotten her killed!” Mareena snaps, “Oh shove off Warhawk, I’m not a damsel in distress, I know how to fight and I’m a damn good hero. I’m done being haunted by my father’s ghost.” Superboy steps forward, “why should we even take orders from you? We know what we’re doing, we got through this and out alive. We can do this, so get on board or get out of the way.” Warhawk looks ready to punch someone, “are you really telling me you would date a wallflower? And if the answer to that is no then why treat her like one?” A monotone voice says behind Warhawk and Raven floats up to the group. Rex swallows whatever remark he was planning on making and stalks off. Raven simply gives them a once over before floating after him.

 

 

***

            Three days later at a cave on the shores halfway between Gotham and Dakota Batman, Superboy, Aquagirl, and Cyborg stand in front of a large computer screen linked to the Batcave only Bruce’s voice is transmitted. “This old cave had been used by the League a long time ago, the watchtower, D.C. and Metropolis branches made it superfluous, but it’s secure. It will give you all a place to train, Superboy I have nearly completed the paper work for your transfer to a Hamilton Hill Highschool. Terry hides his irritation, the old man expects him to keep an eye on the clone while he’s acclimating to society. “There is only the matter of the name I’m registering you under. Do you have a preference?” Mareena looks at him, “I think Conner’s a nice name, and it suits you. What do you think?” Superboy shrugs, “works well enough, what about a last name?” There’s an edge that Terry recognizes as a smile in the old man’s voice, “might I suggest ‘Kent?’” Terry raises an eyebrow. Superboy contemplates it “Conner Kent… I like it, I like having a name.”

“Right, then, the last thing is I’m having a suit built, it’ll have the ability to absorb sunlight like the Cadmus suit, a jet pack, and lasers built into a set of goggles designed to obscure your identity.” Conner frowns, “why are you building that? I don’t need it.” Terry grins “what were you just planning to fight crime in a T-shirt and Jeans?” Superboy looks down at his clothes and flushes slightly with embarrassment before mumbling the angriest “thanks” Terry has eve heard. And given how many of those he himself has done that’s impressive.

 

 Mareena and Cyborg walk off to give Superboy the tour, once they’re out of earshot Terry turns back to the computer “Kent? Really?” There’s enough of a pause that Terry wonders if Bruce decided to hang up. “It’s fitting, and if Clark ever gets his head out of his ass he’ll appreciate it. If not…”

“It’ll annoy the hell out of him forever.” Terry finishes with a smirk. Bruce continues “You have more important things though, while Batman and Aquagirl as individuals might be well known, you are an unknown team. This provides us with a certain advantage I want to press. Especially now that it seems Cadmus is back in force.”

 

 

***

            At the main Cadmus facility far from Gotham a woman in smart professional clothes, with a solid and heavy build, dark skin, and short hair enters a room many several video monitors. “Computer, contact the rest of the Foundation.”

“Acknowledged Miss Waller.”

Four screens fill with the images of other individuals. A man in his mid to late twenties meditating in a dark room lit by incense and candles with a sword across his lap, a young woman with hair done up in a tight bun her ears are pierced in a line she’s wearing a winter coat, and another woman this one hidden in a mask and with billowing purple robes, finally a man with an information visor and wearing a non descript suit, his hair is cropped in a nearly military cut. The first man is the one to speak first, “ah Miss Waller, it is good to see the Tammuz serum agrees with you. I assume this isn’t a social call.” Waller shakes her head, “no, project Krypton has escaped with the help of Batman and Aquagirl.” There is silence that meets this news before the woman in the winter gear asks, “what of Desmond; is he a loose end?” Waller smiles, “no, he injected himself with a dose of raw Blockbuster, he won’t be speaking of our involvement to anyone.” The man in the suit makes a noise of contempt, “saves us the trouble of having to terminate him.”

 

The man with the sword looks over them all, “I suggest we move to expand our bases by inviting membership to our sixth and establish our Gotham location. Bennett, do you continue to have a problem with this?” The man in the suit shakes his head, “While I oppose a criminal element I’d rather have him on a leash than working against us. Besides it’s not my job to clean up GCPD’s messes.” The other man nods, “Lucinda, Morgan, any objection?” The masked woman shakes her head while the younger woman speaks, “no objection, in addition I’ll allocate a 15% increase in resources to Project Sundowner, assuming Miss Waller doesn’t object.” Amanda Waller frowns at her, “I worked with your father long enough that I hope you don’t mind some oversight on that.” The other woman shrugs, “not at all, it’s expected really.”

 

 

***

            Richard Thorne receives a message by letter later that day, the group that had been tentatively courting him for a while has finally made to secure his loyalty. “It seems I’ll be accepted to a position on the board of directors for the Humanity Foundation. Wont Uncle Ozzie be green with envy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been trying to keep use of civilian names to when they're acting as their civilian identities and vice versa for cape identities w=hence the name switches. This chapter is also where I show off my first antagonists and a bit of the current League layout. I hope to explore it more in future chapters (those chapters will be tagged Justice League: New Guard since they're a bit beyond the normal BB fare.) Anyway, as always I love feedback so feel free to comment, even if you hate it.


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